Russia

From 7 to 13 February 2017, the seaports of the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation (Novorossiysk, Yeisk, Temryuk, Tuapse, Kavkaz and Taman) exported 16 ships with grain and its by-products in the amount of more than 331 thousand tons, including more 308 thousand tons of wheat, reports the territorial department of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) in the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea on February 15.

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture does not expect any problems with the shortage of high-quality food grains in the country, said Vladimir Volik, director of the Department for Regulation of Agricultural Markets of the Ministry of Agriculture, on February 13. According to the official, the ministry estimates that at the end of the season food wheat stocks in Russia will be about 16 million tons.

Strengthening the ruble exchange rate was a serious shortcoming for the export of Russian goods, said Alexander Tkachev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, on February 16. Such a trend may hit the domestic economy, including a drop in the volume of grain exports, said the Minister of Agriculture.

As of February 1, 2017, carryover stocks of grain in agriculture, billet and processing organizations of the Russian Federation amounted to 35.247 million tons, which shows an increase of 3.587 million tons (or as a percentage by 11.3%) compared with the same dates in 2016, said the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) February 17.

Russian farmers now have the opportunity to ask and get bank loans secured by non-standard assets such as livestock: cattle, pigs and chickens, rather than traditional assets like land, real estate, etc. To date, the Federal Notary Chamber reports more than 50% of applications for a loan using these types of credit safety assets.

According to official statistics, in January 2017, 34.6 thousand tons of palm oil were imported to Russia, which is 3 times less than the previous month (107 thousand tons), and 2 times less than in January 2016 ( 65 thousand tons), which has become the minimum monthly figure for the last three seasons.

The current lag in the export rate of Russian grain compared to last season may lead to lower prices on the domestic market and a delay in the planting campaign - more than that, on February 22, said the President of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky. According to him, since the beginning of the current season, Russia has already exported 23.767 million tons of grain, compared with 25.875 million tons for the same period last season.

According to the monitoring data, 48 rice-growing farms and processing enterprises of the Krasnodar Territory, the main region producing rice in the Russian Federation, the total raw rice reserves in February 2017 amounted to 379,500 tons, which is 46,600 tons less (or 11%) compared to the same period last year (426.1 thousand tons).